Lace clamping device



May 26, 1959 J. FossA 2,887,697

LACE CLAMPING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 19, 1952 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 J.FOSSA LACE CLAMPING DEVICE May 26, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original FiledDec}. 19, 1952 United States Patent LACE 'CLAMPING DEVICE Originalapplication December 19, 1952, Serial No.

326,948. Divided and this application May 26, 1958,.

Serial No. 737,661

Claims. (Cl. 12-585) The invention relates to improvements in a machinefor lacing an eyeletted shoe upper and more particularly to an improveddevice for clamping the lacing cord.

The invention is herein disclosed as embodied in a lacing machine of thegeneral type shown in the United States Patent to Fossa No. 2,461,889,dated February 15, 1949, for Machine and Method for Manufacture ofShoes. The instant application is a division of a copending applicationof Fossa Serial No. 326,948 for Machine for Operating upon Shoe Uppersfiled in the United States Patent Oflice December 19, 1952.

The illustrated lacing machine operates in accordance with a recurringcycle to place groups of stitches through successive pairs of eyelets ina shoe upper which is mounted on a work holder with the lacing marginsthereof in an opened-out edge-facing relation. The operation of thelacing mechanism is synchronized with a feed mechanism which imparts astepped advancing movement to the associated work holder and upper.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a novel andimproved device for clamping and for holding the severed end of thelacing cord for the start of another lacing operation in the machine.

The several features of the invention will be readily understood by oneskilled in the art from the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the lacing machine;

Fig. 2 is a view in right side elevation of substantially those portionsof the lacing machine shown in front elevation in Fig. 1, the machinebeing shown in its stop position with the end of the lacing cord held inthe clamp;

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional plan view of the clamp taken on a line3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a somewhat fragmentary view of the lacing machine looking fromthe right to illustrate the operation of the clamp, in which the cordhas been advanced by the cord pusher member past the retracted clampingelement and the clamping element is about to be tripped into clampingposition;

Fig. 5 illustrates the position of the clamp and clamp actuatingmechanism during a lacing operation, in Which the clamp is fullyengaged, and the cord positioning element and clamp actuating bar arefully retracted;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale of the clamp asshown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view in front elevation at the plane VII inFig. 2 of the cam and follower connection for shifting the clampactuating cam roller into Patented May 26, 1959 ice looper 328 on whichis pivotally mounted a' double spreader 329 disposed below the work.

The several cooperating instrumentalities of the lacing machine aredriven from cranks and cams mounted on a main cam shaft 337 (see Figs. 2and 7), a secondary cam shaft 338 mounted parallel with and connected toturn at one-half speed of the main cam shaft (see Fig. l), and a drivingsleeve 339 (Fig. 7 )carried on the main cam shaft and arranged to bedriven at one quarter of the speed of the main cam shaft. Reciprocatorymovements are imparted to the needle 327 by means of connections fromthe main cam shaft. The mechanism for operating the cutter and clamp tosever and grip the severed end of the lacing cord is actuated also byconnections from the main cam shaft. Rocking movement is imparted to thedouble looper and lateral swinging movements are imparted to the needleby means of connections from the half speed cam shaft. Stepped advancingmovements are imparted to the feed slide of the machine to presentsuccessive pairs of eyelets to the lacing mechanism, and the stop motionmechanism is actuated by means of connections from the quarter speed camsleeve 339.

The general arrangement of the lacing instrumentalities will be evidentfrom a consideration of Fig. 1 in which the eye lacing machine needle327 above referred to is mounted on a needle bar 343 which is supportedfor longitudinal movement in a frame 344 arranged for lateral swingingmovements about a pivot 345. Vertical movements are imparted to theneedle 327 by means of a crank 346 which is connected by link 347 with apair of toggle links 348, 349, the upper of which is connected to aneedle actuating lever 350. The double looper 328 is secured at itslower end to a carrier rod in the form of a rock shaft which is in turnsupported for lateral movements bodily on a depending frame arranged toswing about a pivot (not shown). It will be understood that the lacingmachine thus generally described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, and 4 isin general similar to the lacing machine specifically described in theFossa Patent No. 2,461,889, above referred to, and that only so much ofthe machine is here shown as is believed necessary to illustrate theconnection of the invention therewith.

Lacing cord is supplied to the needle from a spool or cop, not shown,housed in a container 356 to a tension device 358 (see Fig. 1), andthence to an auxiliary take-up device 360. From the auxiliary take-updevice the cord is directed through a guide 361 to the eye of the needle327.

The illustrated machine is provided with an improved cord cutting andclamping device which operates in a novel and improved manner to insurethe engagement of the lacing cord with the clamp and moves it certainlyinto position to be engaged by the clamp and which further causes theclamp to operate in an improved manner to engage with and clamp thelacing cord end.

The cord cutting and clamping mechanism of the machine is controlled bya rocking movement imparted to the stop motion rock shaft 369 of themachine upon the stopping and starting of the lacing machine. While theshaft 369 and the stop motion associated therewith is fully illustratedin Fossa Patent No. 2,461,889 above referred to, portions of thismechanism relevant to the present invention will be briefly describedwith reference to Figs. 7 and 2, of which Fig. 7 illustrates the stopmotion lock bolt carrier lever 370 which is loosely mounted on stopmotion rock shaft 369 and is given an oscillatory movement at the end ofeach lace forming cycle of four stitches by engagement with the riseportion of its cooperating cam 371 on the quarter speed driving sleeve339 with a roll on the lock bolt carrier lever 37 0. .A lock bolt 372supported on a lateral extension of assess? lever 370 is normallymaintained in a retracted position out of engagement with a socketformed in a laterally extending arm 373 secured to the stop motion rockshaft 369. Upon completion of the lacing operation upon a shoe upper thelock bolt 372 is tripped into operation by means of a connection withthe vertically moving feed bar 375 of the machine (see Fig. 2), whichconnects the arm 373 and rock shaft 369 to turn with the bolt carrierlever 370 in a clockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. 1 toinitiate the operation of the lacing machine stop mechanism. A returnmovement of the feed bar 375 when the machine is started causes the lockbolt 372 again to be withdrawn so that the lever 373 and stop motionrock shaft 369 are permitted to return to their normal inoperativeposition under the infiuence of compression spring 376 (see Fig. 2).

As shown in Fig. 1, the stop motion rock shaft 369 is provided at itsforward end with a downwardly extending arm 377 which is operativelyconnected with the hub portion of a cord cutting and clamping cam lever378 slidably supported on and keyed to turn with a transverse rock shaft379 by means of which the cord cutting and clamping mechanism isoperated. The cam lever 378 is provided with a roll which is arranged tobe acted upon by a face cam 380 formed on the rear face of the needlecrank 346 on the main cam shaft 337 of the machine. A clockwise rockingmovement of the stop motion rock shaft 369 and arm 377 to the positionshown in Fig. l in stopping the machine causes the cutting and clampingcam lever 378 to be shifted axially of its supporting shaft 379 intooperative relation to the cam 380. The rocking movement of the stopmotion rock shaft 369 and depending arm 377 in the counterclockwisedirection upon the starting of the machine causes the cutter and clampand cam lever 378 to be again moved to its inoperative position out ofthe path of the face cam 380.

The connections from the rock shaft 379 for severing the lacing cord(see Fig. l) comprise a lever arm 381 which is secured to the left handend of the rock shaft 379 (see Fig. 1) and is connected by a link 382with a lever arm 384 which is in turn connected by a link 386 with thetail of a rotatable cutter 388 supported to turn on a vertical pivot390.

In accordance with the invention, a novel and improved clamp is providedfor clamping the severed end of the lacing cord. The clamp is arrangedto be operated by the rocking of shaft 379 through connections whichcomprise a downwardly extending clamp actuating lever 392 secured to therock shaft 379 as shown in Fig. 1, a forwardly extending latch arm 394(see Fig. 2) pivotally supported at 396 to the lower end of the clampactuating lever 392 for actuating the clamp, and a slide bar 398 whichis connected to a downward extension of the latch arm 394 and acts toengage with and position the cord accurately in position for theoperation of the clamp. A tension spring 400 connected between thedownward extension of the latch arm 394 and a point on the machine frametends to swing the latch arm in a counterclockwise direction and tomaintain the cam roller in engagement with its operating cam 380. Theclamping device arranged to be operated by the movement of the lever arm392 and latch arm 394 comprises a depending clamping lever 402 (seeFigs. 1, 2, 6) secured to a transverse rock pin 404 on a bracket 406 onthe machine frame.

At its opposite end the rock pin 404 carries an upwardly extending aim408 which is formed with a latch engaging abutment 409 for engagementwith the notched undersurface of the latch arm 394, and is also formedwith a reaiward extension in which is mounted an adjustable stop screw410. A plate 411 secured to the upwardly extending arm 408 is slotted toreceive the end portion of the latch arm 394. A tension spring 412connected atone end to the arm 408 and at its other end to a pin on thebracket 406 tends normally to swing the arm 408, rocker pin 404, andclamping lever 402 in a generally forward or clockwise direction to theclamping position in Figs. 2 and 6. The clamping lever 402 is formed atits lower end with a clamping surface which comprises a laterallyextending V-shaped cord clamping plate 414 (see Fig. 3) arranged forengagement with a rela tively stationary yieldably supported verticalclamping plate 416 carried on the lower end of a vertically disposedplunger 418 slidable in a housing 420 on the bracket 406.

A compression spring 421 seated in a recess at the upper end of theplunger 418 and arranged to bear against the pivot pin 404 tends toforce the clamping plate 416 downwardly. Movement of the clamping plate416 is limited by engagement of a pin 424 secured to the plunger 418with a pair of slots formed in the housing 420. The arrangement of theparts described is such that a forward thrust of the lever arm 392 andlatch arm 394 causes the abutment 409, forming a part of the lever arm408, to engage with the notched undersurface of the latch arm 394 toswing the clamping lever 402 in a counterclockwise direction so that theclamping lever 402 is moved to a fully retracted position. Continuedforward movement of the latch arm 394 causes the stop screw 410 on therearward extension of arm 408 to trip the latch arm 394 out ofengagement with the abutment 409 and thereby to permit the clampingmember 402 to swing downwardly under the pressure of its spring 412 tothe clamping position. The thrust movement of the lever 392 and latcharm 394 is accompanied by a forward movement of the pusher bar 398 whichis supported toward its outer end in a downwardly extending bracket 426so that the offset forward end of the slide 396 is arranged to beengaged with and to force the cord past the rearwardly moving clamplever 402 and to locate the cord with certainty in the path of theclamping plate 414 during its return movement to clamping position. Themachine stops with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 2. The camroller 378 is engaged with the high portion of cam 380. The slide bar398 and latch arm 394 remain in their forwardly extended positions untilthe machine is again started when the slide bar 398 and latch arm 394are returned with lever 392 to the retracted position shown in Fig. 5.

The invention having been described What is claimed is:

1. In a lacing machine for lacing eyeleted shoe uppers the combinationwith a lacing mechanism including a lacing needle operable to insertlacings of lacing cord through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted upper, ofa cord end holding device comprising a swinging cord engaging armpivoted on the machine having at the free end thereof a cord engagingsurface lying in a plane substantially tangent to the arcuate path ofthe swinging movement of said surface, and a cooperating cord engagingelement movable on the machine along a fixed path substantially on aline extending radially from the axis of said swinging arm against saidtangent cord engaging surface, and spring means moving said cooperatingcord engaging element yieldably against said tangent normal surface.

2. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanismoperable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series ofenchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, thecombination of a clamping device for clamping a poition of the lacingcord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises aclamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, aclamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clampingsurface arranged for t a pendant position of said pivoted element toengage beneath and to support said vertically yieldable clampingelement, yieldable means urging the pivoted clamping element to saidpendant position, and a clamp actuating device operable to retract saidpivoted clamping element and thereafter to permit the return of saidpivoted clamping element to the pendant position under the influence ofsaid yieldable means to engage and clamp said portion of the lacingcord.

3. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanismoperable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series ofenchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, thecombination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacingcord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises aclamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, aclamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clampingsurface arranged for a pendant position of said pivoted element toengage beneath and to support said vertically yieldable clampingelement, yieldable means urging the pivoted clamping element to saidpendant position, a cord positioning member movable on the machine alonga path to engage with and position said portion of the lacing cord inthe path of movement of the offset portion of the pivoted clampingelement, and a clamp actuating device acting when rendered operative tomove the cord positioning member to engage with and to position saidcord portion, and simultaneously to retract and thereafter release saidpivoted clamping member under the influence of said yieldable means toengage with and clamp said cord portion.

4. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanismoperable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series ofenchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, thecombination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacingcord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises aclamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, aclamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clampingsurface arranged for a pendant position of said pivoted element toengage beneath and to support said vertically yieldably stationaryclamping element, a cord positioning member arranged to be advanced onthe machine along a path to engage with and position said portion of thelacing cord in a path of movement of the offset portion of the pivotedclamping element, a reset and trip device comprising a member arrangedto be advanced in one direction and means controlled by said advancingmovement to retract said pivoted clamping element and thereafter topermit the return of said clamping element to clamping position, and aclamp actuating device acting when rendered operative to simultaneouslyadvance said cord positioning memher and actuating element to positionand thereafter to clamp said portion of the cord.

5. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanismoperable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series ofenchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, thecombination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacingcord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises arelatively stationary clamping element supported on the machine, acooperating clamping element pivoted on the machine for movement intoclamping engagement with the stationary clamping element, meansyieldably urging the pivoted clamping element against the stationaryclamping element, a cord positioning element movable on the machine toengage with and position said portion of the lacing cord in the path ofmove ment of the pivoted clamping element, and a clamp actuating deviceincluding means acting when rendered operative for moving the cordpositioning element to engage and position said cord portion, and intimed relation therewith for retracting said pivoted clamping elementagainst the influence of said yieldable means, and thereafter forreleasing said pivoted clamping element to engage and clamp thepositioned cord portion.

No references cited.

